Load carrying container

ABSTRACT

1,201,824. Hand trucks. CLARES (ENG.) Ltd. 15 Nov., 1968 [16 Nov., 1967], No. 52299/67. Heading B7B. [Also in Division B8] The base-frame of a trolley has at each corner a channel-shaped member 52 secured to a vertical face of the base frame to form abutments for the members 38, 39 of a detachable side wall the transverse member 29 of which rests on lugs L to prevent outward movement. The wall is locked in the vertical position by pivoted levers 60 which are moved down to overlie the parts 39. Other forms of detachable connection between the wall and frame are described and the trolley may be provided with a detachable handle.

United States Patent [72] Inventor JohnD.F.Flagg,

Wells, Somerset, England 211 AppLNo. 774,762 [22] Filed Nov.l2,l968 [45]Patented Nov. 17, 1970 Clares (Engineering) Limited Stalybridge,Cheshire, England [73] Assignee a British company [32] Priority Nov. 16,1967 [33] Great Britain [31] No. 52299/67 [54] LOAD CARRYING CONTAINER13 Claims, 15 Drawing Figs.

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,296,415 9/1942 Baker280/4734 Primary Examiner-George E. Lowrance Attorney-Malcolm W. FraserABSTRACT: A container such as a'pallet comprising a deckframe with avertical side face and a tubular wall for removable engagement with theside face, two horizontally spaced shoulders and two vertically spacedabutments on the sideface, a vertically-extending lug spacedtransversely from the side face by the thickness of the wall, a pivotalmember mounted on the side face so as to be rotatable about an axisnormal to the side face, the lug and pivotal member being spacedvertically, the wall being formed with parts which substantially matewith the shoulders and abutments and the arrangement being such that, inone position of the pivotal member, the wall can be placed between thelug and the side face in mating engagement with the shoulders andabutments, after which the pivotal member can be pivoted to a positionin which it engages the outside of the wall so as to lock the wallagainst the side face.

Sheet 1 of5 l 24 25 y [L Patented Nov. 17, 19 70 3,540,614

Sheet 4' of5 Patented Nov. 17, 1970 Sheet Q B F gym m 1 LOAD CARRYINGCONTAINER The present invention relates to an improved load-carryingcontainer, such as a truck, trolley or pallet, provided with at leastone removable wall.

Known containers of this kind often consist of a flat rectangularload-carrying deck having vertical sidefaces to one, or each, of whichis attached, in removable fashion, a tubular wall. In thisspecification, the expression tubular" is used to include both tube androd of any section.

When the wall, whether it be tubular or not, has been attached to thesideface of the deck, it is necessary that is shall be restrained frommovement in the following respects.

It must be locked from vertical movement both up and down in its ownvertical plane, from horizontal to-and-fro movement in its own plane andfrom tilting movement about a horizontal axis lying approximately in theplane of the sideface The present invention provides means whereby theseobjects are achieved and whereby the wall can be attached to and removedfrom the side face simply and quickly.

According to the invention there is provided a container such as apallet or trolley comprising a deck-frame, having asubstantiallyvertical sideface and a wall the lower end of which may beremovably engaged against the sideface the side face carrying twohorizontally spaced shoulders, two vertically spaced abutments, and,spaced transversely from the sideface by a distance approximately equalto the thickness of the wall, a vertically extending lug and a pivotalmember rotatable about an axis normal to the side face, which lug andpivotal member are spaced vertically, the wall being formed with partswhich substantially mate with the shoulders and the abutments, and thearrangement being such that, in one position of the pivotal member, thewall can be placed between the lug and the side face in matingengagement with the shoulders and abutments, after which the pivotalmember can be pivoted to a position in which it engages the outside ofthe wall so as to lock the wall against the sideface Usually a containerin accordance with this invention is rectangular in plan view and isprovided with'two similar walls removably attached to two oppositesidefaces respectively.

Preferred forms of the invention will now be described with reference tothe accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. I is a perspective view of a container fitted with two removablewalls,

FIG. 2 shows one wall,

FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 are respectively a plan, side and front elevation ofthe framework of the container, the deck and casters being omitted inthis view,

FIG. 6 is an under perspective ofthe framework,

FIG. 7 is an elevation of a lever used on the container,

FIGS. 8, 9 and 10 are perspective views illustrating how a wall isengaged on the sideface of the frame of the container,

FIG. 11 is a perspective of a handle with which the container can betowed or pushed,

FIG. 12 is an elevation of an alternative form of wall,

FIGS. 13 and 14 are respectively a front and side elevation of the wallof FIG. 12'attached to a sideface ofa deck-frame, and

FIG. 15 illustrates a detail of yet another modification.

The container illustrated in FIG. 1 consists generally of a flatrectangular deck 20, of wood for example, mounted on a steel framework21 to the underside of which are attached two swivelling, and twononswivelling, wheels such as those shown at 22.

Removably secured to two opposite vertical sidefaces of the frameworkare two similar walls 23 and 24. Each wall is preferably mounted on asideface in such a way that no part of the wall rests on the flatsurface of the deck and each wall is locked to its sideface with the aidof pivotal members in the form of a pair of foot-operated levers 25 and26.

Those sidefaces of the framework which do not carry walls are'eachformed with a pair of elongate holes 27, 28 for the reception of aremovable towing handle to be described later.

One wall 23 is shown in detail in FIG. 2. Its outer members 29, 30, 31and 32 are made of steel tube and its inner vertical members 33 are ofsteel rod. At its lower end, the wall carries two similar lever-engagingmembers 34 and 35 each made of steel rod. The member 35 (for example)consists of a length of rod 36, 37 bent to L-shape with the stem 37 ofthe L inserted in and weldedto the tubular wall member 32. A shortlength of rod 38 is welded between the wall member 29 and the foot 36 ofthe L-rod so as to produce a closed loop 29, 37, 36, 38 and alever-engaging finger 39.

The wall also has flat steel strip bracing members 40, 41. The two wallsmay be held at their upper ends by straps 42, 43 (FIG. 1).

The steel framework 21 of the deck is shown in FIGS. 3, 4, 5 and 6. Theouter members of the rectangular framework'are of L-section such as thatshown at 44 and inner bracing members 45, also of L-section, are used atappropriate spacings to reinforce the outer members.

At each corner of the framework the members 44 and 45 are partially cutaway to receive a caster plate 46 which is in the form of a shallowrectangular box with one side (at the position 47) removed. The openmouth of the boxlike casterplate 46 faces downwardly. The roof of theplate is formed with two plunged, elongate apertures 48, 49 for thereception of screws or bolts with the aid of which a caster can besecured to the underside of the plate. The shape of the holes allowscasters of different sizes to be accommodated.

Welded around the vertical side faces of each corner of the framework isa corner-plate 50 formed as a steel pressing. A portion 51 of this plateis triangular, extends along a side of the deck which does not receive awall and is formed with one of the holes 27,28 (FIGS. 1 and 4) which isto receive the towing handle.

Another portion of the plate 50 is bent to U-shape so as to constitute,with a side of the caster-plate, a channelmember 52 of box-section. Avertical sidewall 53 of this box-section constitutes of two spacedshoulders 53, 53A (FIG. 3) with the aid of which the wall 23 isprevented from moving horizontally, in its own plane, after it has beenattached to the sideface of the deck-frame.

The side face of the deck-frame to which a wall is to be engaged isconstituted by the portion 50 of the pressing.

Welded to the upper end of each box-section channel 52 is a short lengthof L'section metal the stem of which constitutes an upstanding retaininglug L (FIGS. 4 and 5) and the base of which constitutes an uppersupporting abutment 54 for the wall. A plate 55 (FIG. 7) serves as areinforcement to retain the shape of the box-section channel, and servesas a support for a lever (to be described) to ensure the lever stays ina vertical planeagainst the side loads.

The lower end of each box-section channel 52 constitutes a lowerabutment 52A which, when a wall-finger 39 has been engaged under it,prevents the wall from moving up in its own plane.

It is to be noted that the lug L (FIG. 4) is spaced horizontallyoutwards from the sideface 50 of the deck so that a portion of the wallcan be accommodated between the lug and the sideface.

The outer wall 56 (FIG. 5) of the box-section channel 52 is bored as at57 and 58. The upper bore 57 receives a pivot pin 59 (FIG. 7) for alever and the lower bore 58 receives the ball of a spring-loadedball-catch 61 (FIG. 7) mounted on the lever. It is to be noted that thepivot pin 59 has its axis normal tothe side face 50.

The lever 60 is shown in detail in IFIG. 7. It is bored for reception ofthe pivot pin 59 and carries the ball-catch 61 as a press-fitting in anaperture 63. It is ofbellcrank shape, being pivoted at the end of onearm 64 and the other arm 65 serving to engage the outside of thewallfinger 39.

The slopes of the edges 66 and 67 of the free arm 65 are of someimportance. The bellcrank lever 60 of the present invention can beoperated by either pressing directly downwards on the edge 66 (forlocking) or toeing the lever up (for unlocking) by pressing upwardlywith the toe on the edge 67. In order that this may be done easilythelower edge 67 is at an oblique angle when the lever is in the lockedposition shown in FIG. 7 and the upper edge 66 is approximatelyhorizontal when the lever has been rotated, in clockwise direction withrespect to FIG. 7, into the unlocked position.

The wall 23 is engaged on the side face 50 of the deck-frame 21 ofthecontainer in the following way:

The levers 60 are rotated by foot to their unlocked positions shown infull lines in FIG. 7. This is done by putting the toe under each leverand lifting it up.

The wall is then lifted so that its bottom crossmember 29 lies above thesupporting upper abutments 54 with its upper end tilted inwardlyslightly so as to be disposed over the deck surface. In this positionthe crossmember 29 can be lowered on to the abutments 54 whilst thefingers 39 clear the outsides of the channels 52. Then the top of thewall is tilted outwardly until the wall lies in a vertical plane (FIG.9.) In this position the fingers 39 lie beneath the lower abutments 52A(constituted by the bottom ends of the boxsection channels 52) so as toprevent the wall from moving up in its own plane and the rods 38 lie onthe outside of the shoulders 53, 53A to prevent the wall from moving toleft or right sideways in its own plane.

It is to be noted that in this position, while the levers are still intheir unlocked positions, the parts 29, 38 and 39 of the wall are inmating engagement with, respectively,the upper abutments 54, the twohorizontally spaced shoulders 53, 53A and the lower abutments 52A. Itfollows that the wall cannot move in any direction in its own plane.

But the wall can still tilt about a horizontal axis lying approximatelyin the plane of the side face To prevent this and thus lock the wall tothe sideface the levers are pushed down with the foot, by treading onthe edges 66, so that they pass to the outside of the fingers 39, to theposition shown in FIG. 10. When this has been done, tilting is preventedbecause the sideface 50 of the deck bears against the inside of the walland the lugs L and levers 60 bear against the outer side of the wall,the lugs and levers being spaced vertically, above and below thesideface Once the load, for example boxes, have been loaded on to thedeck, these good themselves assist in preventing the walls I fromtilting inwardly and the two straps 42 and 43 shown in FIG. I assist insecuring the load.

A spring steel handle with the aid of which the container may be towedis indicated generally at 70 in FIG. 11. It is of U- shape and has a web71, two limbs 72 and 73 and outwardly turned feet 74 and 75. The limbsare joined by a toggle link 76.

When the link is in the broken position illustrated, the naturalresilience of the spring holds the feet at a separation such that theycan be inserted in the elongate holes 27, 28 in the container. Then anupper pad 77 is pressed upon with the foot to move the toggle link overits dead-centre so as to move the feet slightly further apart and thuscause them to engage behind the edges of the apertures. The handle isreleased by toeing an underpad 78 upwardly to move the link back overits dead-centre position.

The modification of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 12, 13 and 14operates upon the same principle as that described above, but thepositions of the lugs and levers have been reversed, that is to say,each lug now lies below a lever, instead of above as in FIGS. I to 11.

In this modification, the side face 80 of the deck-frame is providedwith two channels 81, 82 each of box-section. The sides 83 of eachchannel constitute horizontally spaced shoulders which mate with parts84 and 85 on the wall 86, to prevent the wall moving sideways, in eithersense, in its own plane.

The outer wall 87 of each channel is extended downwardly to constitute alug L. The upper and lower ends 88 and 89 of each channel constitutevertically-spaced upper and lower abutments against which the parts 90and 91 of the wall can mate.

A lever 92 is pivoted on the side face 80, at a position higher than thelugs, so that its axis is normal to the sideface In order to engage thewall 86 to the side face 80, the top of the wallis in this case tiltedoutwardly, the member 91 of the wall-are passed under the lugs L to liebetween the sideface and the lugs and the wall is then tilted back tothe vertical.

In this position the shoulders 83 and the abutments 88 and 89substantially mate with the parts 84, and 90, 91 of the wall, to preventthe wall from moving in its own plane. Nevertheless the wall can stillbe tilted outwardly about a horizontal axis parallel to the sideface. Toprevent this, and finally lock the wall to the sideface the lever 92 isrotated, in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. 13, so that it lieson the outside of the wall. The lever together with the two lugs thenretain the wall flat against the sideface of the deck-frame.

In the forms of the invention so far described the shoulders andabutments extend outwardly from the sideface of the deck-frame. In themodification illustrated in FIG. 15, however, these members are formedinternally of the sideface. Thus, the wall 93 is formed with atransverse, inwardly directed, cylindrical stub 94 which can be seatedin a round hole 95 in the sideface 96 of the deck-frame. Spaced from thesideface, by the thickness of the wall, i.e. by a distance equal to theexternal diameter of the tubular wall 93, are a lug 97 and a lever 98,the latter being pivotal about an axis normal to the sideface.

In operation, the wall is tilted inwardly at its top end, a crossbar(not shown) of the wall is engaged on the inside of the lug, the wall isthen tilted to the vertical so that the stub 94 enters the hole 95,whereupon the lever 98 is rotated to lie on the outside of the wallmember 93.

In this modification, the shoulders are constituted by the inside edgesof the hole 95 lying at the ends of a horizontal diameter, whilst theabutments lie at the ends of a vertical diameter of the hole.

In the modifications described above each wall is preferably supportedupon two horizontally spaced, upper supports. These could, however, bereplaced by a single support extending horizontally. Furthermorelever-engaging parts of the wall, such as the rods 38 of FIG. 2, couldbe arranged to butt against the inside of the channels 52 instead of, asshown, against the shoulders 53 and 53A which are on the outsides of thechannels.

Although it is preferable to engage each wall at both of its bottomcorners as shown in FIG. 1, since by doing so, a forklift may be passedunder the container between the points of engagement, nevertheless awall can if desired be engaged with only one pivotal member, locatedeither at a corner or at the centre of the bottom member of the wall.

In yet another modification, the wall carries the shoulders andabutments and the sideface is formed with recesses cooperating with theshoulders and abutments.

The claims which follow are to be construed as including these and likeequivalent variations of the preferred embodiments described.

I claim:

I. A container such as a pallet or trolley comprising a deckframe, avertical side face on the deck-frame, a wall for removable engagementwith the side face two horizontally spaced shoulders on the sideface twovertically spaced abutments on the sideface, a vertically-extending lugspaced transversely from the side face by a distance approximately equalto the thickness of the wall, a pivotal member mounted on the sidefaceso as to be rotatable about an axis normal to the sideface, the lug andpivotal member being spaced vertically, the wall being formed with partswhich substantially mate with the shoulders and abutments and thearrangement being such that, in one position of the pivotal member, thewall can be placed between the lug and the sideface in mating engagementwith the shoulders and abutments, after which the pivotal member can bepivoted to a position in which it engages the outside of the wall so asto lock the wall against the sideface.

2. A container as claimed in claim I, wherein the upper of the twoabutments serves as a support for the wall.

3. A container as claimed in claim 1, wherein the wall carries a fingerat its lower end and the pivotal member is in the form of a levermounted-about a pivot normal to the sideface,

the arrangement being such that, in an unlocked position of the lever,the wall may be inwardly tilted, then lowered on to the upper abutmentso as to be disposed on the inside of the lug and held againsthorizontal movement in the plane of the sideface by the horizontallyspaced shoulders, then tilted to a vertical position in which the fingerengages under the lower abutment to prevent the wall from movingupwardly, whereupon'the lever may be rotated to engage the outer side ofthe finger so as to lock the wall against the sideface of the deck.

4. A container as claimed in claim 1, wherein the wall carries twohorizontally spaced fingers and the side face carries a pair ofhorizontally spaced shoulders for the wall, a pair of upper abutments, apair of lower abutments,-a pair of upstanding lugs each outwardly spacedfrom the sideface, a pair of horizontal pivots located below each lugrespectively and a lever on each pivot.

5. A container as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sideface of thedeck-frame is provided with two box-section channel members the sides ofwhich constitute the said horizontally spaced shoulders and the top andbottom of which constitute the said upper and lower abutments.

6. A container as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sideiface of thedeck-frame is provided with two box-section channel members the sides ofwhich constitute the said horizontally spaced shoulders and the top andbottom of which constitute the said upper and lower abutments', therebeing provided,

between the sideface and the outer wall of each channel member, a leverpivoted for angular movement about anaxis normal to the sideface.

7. A container as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sideface of thedeck-frame is provided with two box-section. channel members the sides,of which constitute the said horizontally spaced shoulders and the topand bottom of which constitute thesaid upper and lower abutments, therebeing provided,

normal to the side face, the wall being provided with a pair of fingersand each lever cooperating with a finger to lock the wall against asideface.

8. A container as claimed in claim 6, wherein each lever projects.downwardly out of the lower end of the channel member and cooperateswith a fingeron the wall to lock the a wall against the side face.

9. A container as claimed in claim 3, wherein each lever is of bellcrankshape having one arm receiving the pivot and the other free, the leverbeing so mounted on its pivot that, in its unlocked position, the upperside of the free arm approaches a horizontal position.

'10. A container as claimed in claim 3, wherein the wall is of tubularmetal and is formed'at its lower end with a downwardly extending closedloop from which a finger exbetween the limbs, a toggle link with the aidof which the distance between the limbsmay be varied against the naturalresistance of the spring.

13. A container as claimed in claim 12, wherein each of thosesidefacesof'the deck-frame not provided with a wall is formed with apair of horizontally spaced apertures and the limbs of the spring-handleare provided at their ends with feet for engagement in the apertures.

